Mustafa Ali Wants: "The American Nightmare Vs A Real American Nightmare"
As WWE continues to promote the return of Cody Rhodes, WWE star Mustafa Ali has thrown his name into the hat of a potential opponent for the former AEW star.
Responding to a tweet from WWE this past Friday asking for potential dream matches for Rhodes, Mustafa Ali mentioned himself as a possible opponent.
"The American Nightmare vs. a real American Nightmare"
the american nightmare vs a real american nightmare https://t.co/RrBWQDVHwM
— Mustafa Ali (@MustafaAli_X) April 9, 2022
Mustafa Ali's "real American Nightmare" comment is perhaps a reference to a scrapped gimmick Ali was looking to use in late 2021 before it was abandoned by creative. Soon after, a reported creative disagreement between Ali and Vince McMahon led to the long-time WWE star asking for his release, which WWE ultimately did not grant.
Ali's tweet regarding a match with Cody Rhodes is the first indication, big or small, that the WWE star would be open to returning to work a match on WWE programming. It has been reported that Mustafa Ali's contract with WWE still has several years on it, meaning he would otherwise be forced to sit out multiple years before getting in the ring again.
While it is uncommon for wrestlers who have asked for their releases from WWE to return to the company, even for a short period of time, Ali would not be the first wrestler to do so. The late Brodie Lee would return to WWE programming for a month in 2019 after asking for his release from WWE earlier in the year, teaming with longtime partner Erick Rowan to face Daniel Bryan and Roman Reigns. He would then be taken off TV and was released a few months later, paving the way for Lee to join AEW in March of 2020.